A Dull Shade of Purple
by BreadLoaf
Summary: Useless. It was one thing that Odd Della Robbia could not stand to be. Yet, with XANA destroyed, he wasn't a hero any more and the Uselessness would manifest itself in depression. A depression that would eat the blonde from the inside out. It would destroy that smile and turn that shade of purple dull. Parings OxA and UxY.
1. Chapter 1

**A Dull Shade of Purple**

**Chapter 1**

At this one moment, he was completely happy with just fiddling with his shoelaces, legs brought up close to his torso, nothing to distract him. Only wanting to know just how quickly he could tie a knot with one hand.

Days on end would pass like this now: finding something meaningless and utterly pointless to do and immersing himself in it for hours. Once he got bored, he would move onto something else and waste time doing that.

The last, faint rays of the winter sun sparkled over the horizon before vanishing; Odd Della Robbia would watch, half-disinterested and half-fascinated at the end of yet another day before returning to his worn out, one-size-too-small, purple Converses.

Grumbling to himself at how hungry he was, Odd began to regret that he skipped dinner, despite the fact he had a pile of unfinished homework that needed doing within the next two days. He looked resentfully over at his best friend, Ulrich Stern, who was allowed extra portions of dinner after soccer training, thanks to Jim. Ulrich, who was snoring softly and only halfway out of his soccer gear before collapsing completely, twitched in his sleep, followed by a quiet grunt. Odd froze for a second, watching him to see if he would awaken. After half a minute, however, snoring resumed and Odd relaxed, glad he didn't wake his friend.

For some particular reason, which he hadn't been able to fathom for himself, Odd preferred solitude more often, disregarding his usually extraverted, jokey persona. It had been two months since the defeat of the logic and power driven virus, XANA, and recently Odd had been feeling obsolete more and more with every passing week since. He didn't know why it was only him feeling this and not any of his other friends (at least to the extent of his knowledge), but he knew for sure that XANA wasn't the only contributing factor.

He thought of speaking to Jeremie; to ask him for advice, before realising it would be the equivalent of trying to discuss politics with a brick wall. Jeremie love for writing programs or creating logarithms that only he could understand had not waned since the supercomputer was shut down. He paid little attention to his supposed girlfriend Aelita, at least none he could see in comparison to their group, and hardly showed any interest in anyone or anything unless it concerned computers.

If Odd needed to consult someone, Ulrich would be his go-to person. But Ulrich, alike to Jeremie, was more introverted and liked to bottle his feelings up rather than deal with them. Yumi was the same, perfectly functional in small groups, but socially awkward when faced with situations involving many people. Odd knew that this trait wasn't bad, it allowed for everyone in their circle of friends to have their own unique style, but for him right now, it couldn't have been more useless.

Odd's eyes, which had been casually drifting over everything in the room, fell upon a photo of him and the four other ex-Lyoko Warriors outside the factory in which they spent half of their time in over the past two years. There was Jeremie, leaning casually on the factory wall, an arm around his shoulders belonging to Ulrich whose other arm was around Yumi's waist in a hug that seemed a little too close than what would be considered "just friendly". On Yumi's other side, sitting on the grass was himself, tongue poking out through his trademark smile. One arm was connected with Yumi's via fist bump, and the other was used to give bunny ears to...  
Aelita.

He could consult her for advice; Aelita, the naïve girl they freed from the supercomputer, the girl that has evolved so much over the past year and a half since her freedom from Lyoko. She was no longer the shy, fearful child with frequent nightmares but now the disc jockey for the Subdigitals. She was now the girl that had lived through problems yet still kept the group one and a whole. Odd realised that he could relate to her so much more now that she was as human as he.

He needed to talk to someone, and Aelita was his best bet. He didn't care if she wasn't able to help, but Odd felt the need to talk to _someone_, for the humour of Kadic Academy was fading away, and he was the one to see it first.

_**pgb**_

_The following day:_

An unusual event that occurred for Yumi Ishiyama was to be alone at home, especially on a Sunday. But her father had gone on a small course for his business and her mother had decided to tag along to give him some company. Her brother on the other hand, had stayed the night at Kadic in Johnny's dorm. Johnny stayed in a double room, yet he had no roommate so a spare bed was available whenever it was needed. Nevertheless, Yumi relished in her solitude and the fact the usual morning noises were replaced with an eerie silence, just the way she liked it.

Yumi stared out the window at a sparrow that had taken abode inside a tree on her front yard, thinking about how she would pass the day. _Maybe with Ulrich... _a voice said inside her head and she blushed slightly at the idea despite there being no-one else in the room. With the recent defeat of XANA, she had more time to do things she only wished of before now. She had more time to study for her exams and finally was getting eight or more hours of sleep every night.

Finishing the last of her cereal, which she had always preferred over a traditional Japanese breakfast, Yumi slid off her chair, dumped her bowl into the sink and grabbed her bag. Taking one last look at the house before it was once more besieged by her family, the geisha made her way out of the house, and towards Kadic Academy. It wasn't a school day, but at least she would be doing _something._

_**pgb**_

It was a miracle that the buttons on the only vending machine in Kadic had not yet broken, but they were looking worse for wear nowadays. However, this did not stop Ulrich from smashing the hot chocolate button relentlessly, hoping to get his drink dispensed faster. Luckily enough, a cup fell from the machine and thankfully was filled with steaming deliciousness; Ulrich grabbed the cup and breathed in the alluring scent before taking a small sip.

"Morning Ulrich," said a familiar voice from behind him. Ulrich turned to see Odd walking up to him and frowned at the lack of a terrible joke followed by a laugh. Odd's demeanour was also strange, his shoulders were hunched over, Ulrich noticed, as he got closer and he seemed to shuffle instead of walk. There were bags under his eyes and the almost non-stop grin wasn't there either.

"Hey, Odd. Up all night? You look terrible," Ulrich replied as he took another sip of his hot chocolate.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep for some reason. How'd the soccer practice go?" Odd asked.

Ulrich narrowed his eyebrows, Odd had seemed to redirect the topic of conversation away from himself too quickly for his liking, "It was good," he shrugged, "if we continue like this, we should win our next match."

"Cool, hang on one sec," Odd said, and he stepped round Ulrich. He inserted a coin into the vending machine and pressed the "Coffee" key. The machine made a whirring sound before they heard a loud bang. The light on top went out, and neither cup nor coffee was dispensed.

Odd groaned, "You have got to be kidding me!" And he kicked the machine hard, "Why do you always break down?" He kicked it twice more, before storming off to the cafeteria.

Ulrich watched as this took place, completely shocked seeing his best friend react in such a way. "_What was that about?" _he thought. Taking it as just Odd being tired, Ulrich followed after him. But something in the back of his mind said there was something extremely wrong, and upon entering the cafeteria his suspicions were confirmed when he saw Odd near on throw his tray down in front of Rosa. The cook, who looked completely taken aback, gave Odd his serving of porridge without comment and Odd, who was glaring at the floor, took the tray and walked over to their usual table and slammed it down.

Something was definitely wrong with Odd Della Robbia, and Ulrich was just about to walk over to him and find out, when someone lightly punched his shoulder, "You need a haircut, y'know."

Ulrich turned to face the owner of the voice and saw Yumi there with a smile on her face, "Hey Yumi, what's up?" Ulrich grinned as he saw who it was.

"Nothing really, you?" She replied, reaching to push one of Ulrich's bangs out of his eyes. Ulrich blushed slightly as she did.

"Err," Ulrich was eyeing Yumi now, suspicious of her actions, "We- Well, I'm aching from last night's soccer practice but apart from that nothing."

"Great, you doing anything today, because I was thinking we could go watch a movie?" Yumi winked, "It can be your choice, I'm just up for something to pass the time."

"Just the two of us? Like- like a date?" Ulrich stammered and Yumi frowned.

"Not like a date silly, Odd, Jeremie and Aelita can come too if you want. That's if they're up for it as well." Yumi sighed.

"No," Ulrich said and Yumi looked shocked, "I- I mean, I'm cool with it being just us two." Ulrich added quickly and Yumi relaxed. "Great!" she exclaimed, "You having breakfast then?"

The suggestion of breakfast immediately reminded Ulrich of Odd, "Yeah, I was just about to get it," Ulrich stated. "Hey Yumi, have you noticed something off about Odd recently?" he asked as he made his way over to the serving counter with Yumi tailing him. Yumi glanced over at Odd, and shrugged, "No, not really, but..." Yumi tailed off.

"But what?" Ulrich prompted.

"Well, he has seemed a lot less jokey lately, and he's stopped trying to date every girl in the school." Yumi thought out loud, "He's probably just realised he run out of girls to dump and it hit him hard. Why, you think something's wrong with him."

Yumi grabbed two croissants and passed one to Ulrich while he was served some porridge, "Yeah, just earlier the vending machine broke on him, and he quite literally freaked out and kicked the thing."

"I'd kick it too, that stupid thing drives me crazy," They made their way over to where Odd was sitting playing with his porridge. He put some onto his spoon, lifted it slightly over his bowl, then flipped it upside-down, letting the food fall back into his bowl with a small "plop".

"Morning Odd!" Yumi greeted as she sat down, "What's up?"

"Nothing." Odd mumbled, barely flicking his eyes up to see who it was that was talking. Once again he scooped up some porridge, and let it fall into his bowl, not eating any of it.

"Jeez Odd, are you ill?" Yumi joked, "You're not eating anything. Rosa's food not up to your standards or something?"

"Not now Yumi." Odd said, quite harshly too Ulrich noticed. "Are you sure you're alright Odd?" The older boy quipped, "You haven't been your usual self lately."

"I'm fine, OK." Odd's voice was louder now, as if he was getting fed up with the conversation. "Just leave me alone."

And he stood up, glared at Ulrich and Yumi, who were looking utterly confused, and walked quickly out of the cafeteria. Ulrich watched as Odd moved across the courtyard, stopping at the dorm building and throwing the door open, letting it bang loudly against the wall. The brunette saw the younger boy glance sadly back at the cafeteria for a few seconds, before walking through the open door, and out of sight.

"What on earth was that about?" Yumi said after a minute of shocked silence.

"I don't know, Yumi, but it isn't good, whatever it is." Ulrich grimaced, staring at the door Odd had just passed through.

"Should we tell someone? Could Jeremie and Aelita help?"

"Yumi," Ulrich sighed, and both pairs of eyes caught each other in their gaze, "I really, truly don't know."

**A.N: So, what do you guys think? Is it too cliché for you, or does it need to be more so? Leave a review telling me what you thought of the chapter and how I should improve. But please, no flames.**

**I don't know how many chapters long I should make this story. If I find myself running out of ideas, then the chapter quality won't be as good, so the story will be shorter. If you guys keep on liking it, then I'll try to keep it going!**

**This (hopefully) should be the longest authors note, so don't worry about having to read even more, post-chapter.**

**Thanks for reading! - BreadLoaf**

**...And don't forget to REVIEW!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A Dull Shade of Purple**

**Chapter 2**

"Why don't you call him Mr. Puck?"

_A small girl with vibrant pink hair sat in the middle of a room, clutching onto a cotton figurine that resembled a small elf. Next to her was a man with greying-hair, glasses and a warm, smiling face. On the girl's other side was a woman with hair as rose-coloured as hers and a warm smile only a mother could give._

The scene changed.

_A flash of white faded into black. A rush of wind on her face. A firm, cool, metal floor was beneath her petite frame. She opened her eyes and found that she was in some sort of capsule filled with a dazzling yellow light. The capsule seemed to be in a large room with two tall, cylindrical chambers across the room._

_Four people were in the room with her._

_A purple diamond._

_Green jacket, cargo pants._

_Raven black hair._

_Glasses._

_All smiling._

The room was replaced with a forest, and the cylindrical chambers with trees.

_Fear._

_Pure, comprehensive and total._

_It consumed her._

_It overtook her._

_A low, ear-splitting growl sounded from behind her._

_The girl's breathed hitched in her throat._

_She didn't look, she just ran._

_Ran from certain death._

_Adrenaline coursed through her body, blinding her from seeing anything ahead._

_The girl tripped on the root of a tree and fell, crashing to the ground._

_The growling was louder than ever before._

_This was it._

_This was the end._

_..._

_..._

BANG. BANG. BANG.

A loud knocking started the girl from her sleep. Her pink hair fell listlessly into her eyes and cold sweat covered her body. She took in the room around her: tinted-red walls, posters of the SubDigitals and the faint scent of cherry perfume.

BANG. BANG. BANG.

The pinkette jumped again. Somebody was at her door. She yawned, stretching her arms and allowing herself to relax. It was all a nightmare, slipping away from her with every passing second. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Aelita Schaeffer granted entry for the person outside her room.

"Come in." She said wearily, her voice cracking slightly from not being used.

She saw the familiar purple splotch before the person who owned it. Odd entered her room, and immediately Aelita saw something wasn't quite right about him. His eyes were red and puffy, yet wide open and darting around. His hair also was amiss; ruffed up and not styled to its usual point.

"Hey Aelita." The blonde said quickly, the distress detectable in his voice.

"Odd." Aelita said, "You don't seem too well. What's up?"

"We- Well. I just want- wanted to ask y- you something," Stuttered the clearly sleep-deprived teen.

Aelita furrowed her eyebrows. This wasn't like Odd to be scared. What was going on?

"Ask away." She said tentatively, as to not upset her friend any further.

"I err... I wa- want some ad..." Odd trailed off.

"Odd?" Aelita prompted, confused as could be.

"Never mind." He said, before bolting out through the still open door and slamming it shut behind him.

Aelita listened intently as she heard Odd's walk briskly back to the stairs until it quieted into nothingness. "What was all that about?" the pinkette asked to no-one in particular. Concerned for her friend, she made a mental note to talk to Ulrich about Odd's peculiar behaviour. She stretched once more, before leaping out of bed. Grabbing her clothes for the day from her cupboard, Aelita made her way to the shower.

_**pgb**_

Not a word had been shared between Ulrich Stern and Yumi Ishiyama since the events that took place not fifteen minutes before. Both were still comprehending what had actually happened to their usually jovial friend to make him so temperamental at the smallest thing. Their thoughts were interrupted, however, by Aelita.

"Hiya guys, whatcha doing?" She smiled and sat down next to Yumi, who shifted up the table slightly to make more room.

"Nothing much, Aelita," Yumi replied, "Just passing the time."

"Eh, same. It is Sunday after all." Aelita remarked. "Besides, I am starving."

The pinkette picked up her spoon and began shovelling her porridge into her mouth, barely leaving herself time to swallow before grabbing another spoonful. Ulrich raised his eyebrow at the quickly diminishing portion of food. Within a minute, Aelita was scraping her bowl for one last mouthful of oaty sludge. Upon finishing, Aelita looked up to see Ulrich's mouth slightly agape and smirked.

"Wow, Aelita," Ulrich exclaimed, "At that rate, you could challenge Odd to an eat-off."

At the mention of Odd's name, Aelita's face changed from satisfaction to concern and the smile slipped from it just as quick.

"Ulrich, can I have a word with you for a minute."

Ulrich looked confused.

"You know," Aelita continued, "In private."

"Oh." Ulrich mumbled, before standing up quickly. "One second, Yumi."

Yumi, whose eyebrows were raised in a quizzical look, glanced quickly at Ulrich, then Aelita, before shrugging and turning to look out the window at the frost-covered trees in the distance. The brunette gave a small smile in Yumi's direction, but she didn't notice. Turning, Ulrich let Aelita lead him outside into the cold air.

Going around to the back of the cafeteria, Ulrich shivered and pulled the collar of his jacket closer to him in the attempt to retain some warmth. When Aelita was certain that no-one was eavesdropping, she turned to face Ulrich. His suspicion on why Aelita was acting so peculiar was confirmed when the pinkette asked "Have you noticed something kind of strange with Odd lately."

"Yeah, I have." Ulrich stated bluntly.

This obviously upset Aelita, as worry not only shone on her face now, but in her eyes. "Do you think we should be concerned?" She mumbled anxiously.

Ulrich hesitated. If he said yes, he would upset Aelita even further, but if he said no, he would be lying.

Realising that his best friend was truly tormented for the first time since he had met him, Ulrich was left with no choice. "Yes." He admitted, "Odd has never been so short-tempered about anything. He's always finding good in everything and now he's depressed. Did you know he went into a rage simply because the vending machine broke on him earlier?"

Aelita's eyes widened, "What?"

"Yeah, he kicked it really hard then went storming off into the cafeteria." Ulrich elaborated. "Then he threw a fit at us just because we tried talking to him."

Aelita sighed.

No-one spoke for a moment. Ulrich was looking intently at Aelita, who in turn was staring at the ground. "Anyway," Ulrich said after a few seconds, "When did you notice something was up?"

Aelita sucked in a mouthful of air through her teeth before looking back up at the brunette. "Earlier Odd came into my room. He didn't look too good so I asked him what was wrong; he seemed really scared about something. He was going to say something but panicked and ran out of the room."

This all came out very quickly and it took Ulrich a few seconds to process what Aelita had said. "He came to ask you for something?" He questioned.

"Yes, but I don't know why. I checked in your room for him before I came down to the cafeteria, but he wasn't there. When did you last see him?" Aelita asked.

"Well, he stormed out of the cafeteria after having a go at us, and went into the dorm building. I can only guess he went up to see you." Ulrich explained.

The petite girl, still confused towards the actions of the blonde, asked "Then where has he gone?"

"I dunno." Ulrich shrugged. "But if we want to find out, we need to ask around. Talk to Jeremie, see if he has noticed something about Odd, or if he knows where he's gone." The brunette directed.

"Ok, what are you going to do?"

"I'll talk to..." Ulrich paused, thinking, "Milly and Tamiya, they might know what's up. But right now I promised Yumi I'd go to the movies with her."

Aelita looked down at the ground again. "Oh, ok." she said sombrely.

"What's wrong, Aelita?"

"It's just; I don't want Odd to get into any trouble." She sighed.

Ulrich put a hand on Aelita's shoulder, comforting her. "Aelita, don't worry, he'll be alright. He always is."

* * *

"Have fun, you guys!" A bespectacled boy called out towards his friends. Both the brunette and the black haired person waved at him then turned and walked out through the wrought iron gates.

The boy behind the glasses was Jeremie Belpois, 9th grader at Kadic Academy. Tousled blonde hair, azure blue eyes and an intelligent aura about him, he waved off his friends Ulrich Stern and Yumi Ishiyama as they departed for the cinema to watch a romance/horror-esque production by some obscure director. He glanced to his right to see his best friend, Aelita, waving too, but the smile was not there. He didn't get too concerned however, _"she probably just tired", _he thought.

After a moment, the top scorers in Kadic turned and headed back into the heart of the school. They went up the stairs to the boys' dorm room, down the hall and through another door which entered into Jeremie's room.

In the two months since XANA's defeat, the room hadn't changed much. It was still as cramped as ever, and the familiar whirring of the computer was not present. The boy who resided in his dorm however, had dropped his antisocial ways and was more outgoing and extraverted. Yet he kept his stubborn and self-righteous persona, and still was on the lookout for the malevolent virus that stripped him of two years' childhood.

"So Aelita, I was wondering if you wanted to have lunch together. Out in town, you know." Jeremie asked.

The pinkette in question was not listening. Frown lines marked her forehead and appeared to be contemplating something.

"Aelita?" Jeremie sat down on his computer chair.

At the sound of her name, her ears perked up, and she looked at Jeremie, "Sorry, Jeremie. What was it you were saying."

Jeremie smiled, the concern gone, "Oh, I was wondering if you wanted to head into town with me for lunch."

Jeremie felt slightly downcast when no smile broke out at his offer. He involuntarily cracked his knuckles at the awkward situation that arose.

"Jeremie," Aelita mumbled, "Have you noticed something off about Odd?"

The blonde was taken aback at the sudden change of topic. But this question made him think. _Had there been something off about Odd? He didn't hang around me or Aelita as much anymore. But he seems just like that everyday idiot he was when I first met him._

"No, not really," The boy replied, "Why? Has he done something?"

Aelita fidgeted in her chair, "Well, no. He just seems, well... He just seems a little down, don't you think?"

"Well, no," The prep shrugged, "He's been the same around me."

Jeremie sat down in his computer chair, staring at the wall in thought for a moment, "Why are you so concerned about him anyway? I mean, it's only Odd." He enquired, in a tone that sounded almost accusatory.

Aelita, who was sitting on Jeremie's bed before, stood up and stared at him, her features filled with anger that Jeremie had only seen once before, "Because that was friends are for!" She yelled, "They be concerned for their friends so their friends can stay happy!"

She left the room, slamming the door behind her. Jeremie stayed in his chair, perplexed. For almost a whole minute, the only sound that could be heard was the bespectacled boy's quiet breathing. Then, the blonde swivelled his computer chair around and pressed the power button to his computer.

"Girls," he muttered to himself, "I'll never understand them and I don't think there is a program to either."

* * *

It was drawing close to eight o'clock in the evening when Ulrich returned alone from town. He was euphoric; his day out with Yumi could not have gone better. After watching the movie, which was a total flop in his opinion, they had headed to a fast food restaurant. Whilst walking the few kilometres there, they had each took turns making snide comments about their teachers, causing the other to laugh. After eating, they split up heading to their different homes, but not before Yumi had kissed him on the cheek.

Despite eating only a few hours before, Ulrich's stomach growled, so he made way to the cafeteria. Walking in, he saw Aelita sitting alone at their usual table, glaring at her last few potatoes. The brunette walked over to her and sat down, still grinning from before. Aelita looked up at him and saw the gleeful expression on his face. "Someone is in a good mood," she remarked, "Did that someone have a romantic day out with a certain Japanese lover." This caused Ulrich to blush, but he wouldn't let her wipe the grin off his face that easily.

"Like you wouldn't believe. I had a great day." He smirked.

"Well," the pinkette sighed, "That makes one of us."

"What happened?"

"Let's just say I got into a small fight with a certain, glasses-wearing boy."

"Oh, really?" Ulrich asked, "What about?"

Aelita pushed her still unfinished food away from her, and looked up at Ulrich, "Well," she said again, "After you left, we went up to Jeremie's room. He asked me if I wanted to go to lunch with him," she explained.

"And?" Ulrich prompted.

"I'm getting to it," she replied exasperatedly, "As I said, he asked me to go out to lunch with him. But I didn't answer at first. I asked him about Odd, like you told me to. He said he didn't notice anything different about him. But then he asked why I cared so much about him, because it was," she raised two fingers in a quote position, "_'just Odd.'_ That's when I yelled at him. Because he didn't care about Odd, he just wanted to go on a date with me."

By the time the story was over, Ulrich had raised one eyebrow, "Wow, that self-centred still."

"Yes." Aelita confirmed.

Ulrich shrugged, "He'll come around Aelita, don't worry. Speaking of which have you seen Odd yet?" the brunette asked.

Aelita gasped, and put a hand around her mouth. "Oh my god! I forgot to look for him. It's just, I was angry at Jeremie, ugh. I'm so selfish!" she cried.

"That's fine Aelita." Ulrich smiled, "But have you though?"

Aelita's frustration subsided, and she gave Ulrich a sad look, "No, I'm sorry. But it's like you said, he'll turn up sooner or later."

"Yeah, I guess."

* * *

Ulrich was pacing up and down his room, worried. The alarm clock by his bed had the time "11:41" written in bright, red letters. There had still been no sign of Odd. Ulrich was just starting to consider that Odd wouldn't return at all that night when the door to his room opened.

There stood Odd. His clothes were covered in mud and there were small rips in them. His face was worse for wear though. Tiny cuts were scattered up his left cheek and his hair had fallen from its point and now was matted and dirty. Ulrich stared at the near-unrecognizable boy, his mouth agape.

"Odd! Where in hell have you been?" He yelled angrily.

Odd stood there, looking at Ulrich dead in the eye, "Out," He simply stated.

Without getting changed, without even taking off his shoes, Odd climbed into bed. Ulrich's anger was replaced with sympathy for the boy the resided across from him. _I'll speak to him tomorrow. _He thought, before climbing into bed himself, and switching off the light.

When Ulrich Stern woke the following day, he rolled over to find the bed across from him deserted.

* * *

**A/n OOooooooohhhh cliffhanger! (kind of)**

**Thanks so much for the reviews last chapter, loved reading your thoughts on this!**

**Don't forget to review and keep your eyes peeled for the next chapter.**

**- BreadLoaf**


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